militia

militia , military organization composed of citizens enrolled and trained for service in times of national emergency. Its ranks may be filled either by enlistment or conscription. An early prototype was the national militia developed by Philip of Macedon. However, the modern concept of the militia as a defensive organization against invaders grew out of the Anglo-Saxon fyrd. The militiaman, in times of crisis, left his civilian duties and became a soldier until the emergency was over, when he returned to his civilian status. Militias persisted through the Middle Ages, especially in England, Italy, and Germany; after the rise of large standing armies they declined.

In America, however, militias survived. The Military Company of Massachusetts was the first militia organization in America and was followed by similar groups in the other colonies. Local control and voluntary service prevailed. Although the militia was valuable throughout the American Revolution, it proved undependable in the War of 1812. Therefore, no militia forces were used in the Mexican War. However, during the Civil War, when manpower needs were greater, both sides resorted to the use of militia. After World War I, state military units were established under the term National Guard . In other countries the militia is known generally as the special reserve or the territorial reserve.

In 1995 the bombing of Oklahoma City's federal building focused national attention on self-appointed "militias" or, as they often call themselves, "Patriots." These armed, typically rural and predominantly male organizations, many of which are in Western states, have a membership largely consisting of a mix of survivalists, white supremacists, gun-control opponents, "Christian Identity" adherents, and others adamantly opposed to most involvement of the federal government in the daily lives of U.S. citizens. Many in the militia movement were particularly angered by the FBI siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho (1992), the destruction of the Branch Davidians at Waco, Tex. (1993), and the passage of the Brady Bill handgun control legislation (1993); these events spurred the further growth of the American militia movement in the 1990s.

Bibliography: See K. S. Stern, A Force upon the Plain: The American Militia Movement and the Politics of Hate (1996); D. Levitas, The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right (2002).

militia. The British regionally-based volunteer armed forces (from the Latin miles, a soldier). Of Anglo-Saxon origin or earlier, the militia was established as an obligation for all freemen by the Assize of Arms of 1181. In 1558 Mary I created the new post of lord-lieutenant to command the militia in a county structure, and Charles II in three Militia Acts (1661–3) established its legal basis. Although militarily negligible throughout its existence, the militia was intended to repel any invasion, to secure order locally, and as a regional ‘constitutional force’ to balance royal control of the standing army. Service in the militia (and its mounted equivalent, the yeomanry) evolved to be essentially voluntary except in times of emergency, such as the 1757 Militia Act, which used a ballot. During the Napoleonic wars, the militia was supplemented by various ‘fencibles’, and after 1859 by the Rifle Volunteers. The 1852 Militia Act finally placed it under the secretary for war, and in 1881 militia regiments were attached to regular county infantry regiments. The 1907 Territorial and Reserve Forces Act abolished the militia by amalgamating all volunteer forces into the Territorial Force, renamed the Territorial Army in 1921, which continues in existence.

Stephen Badsey